A Prom Surprise for Ita

In mid-April, I received this picture via text from Jenn McF.

Daniel asked Margaret to his junior prom and of course she said yes. I kiddingly responded with my desire to come help her get ready, which Jenn and Margaret both took off running with. Long story short, I found myself on a plane to North Carolina very early in the morning last Saturday to surprise Margaret.

Popo picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Franklin Street where Margaret and her friend Sarah were having lunch. I walked in and her face was priceless. She was completely shocked to see me and didn’t know what to say. It was awesome.

Eli came over from her dorm and had lunch with us, then the four of us walked across the street to get gelato at the cutest sweets shop called Sugarland. So good.

 

After that we went next door to Salon 135 so Margaret could get her hair done. She and Sarah had looked online for ideas but she wasn’t settled on anything until I pulled up my Pinterest and showed her a few of my pinned hairstyles. We showed the picture she liked best to the stylist, and I think the end result came out really great. Jenn had a big bike ride that morning (she completed a metric century – 100km!) but she made it to the salon just in time to see the finished product.

 

 

Hair done, we all then went back to the house to relax a bit and meet up with Margaret’s other friend Rose, who came over to do her makeup. It was a fun afternoon.

 

 

It quickly approached the appointed time for Daniel to arrive to pick Margaret up. When he got to the house, I snapped a quick {blurry} pic of him walking up the driveway to the door, looking so handsome all dressed up in his tux and Carolina blue striped bow tie.

Margaret didn’t look so bad herself. Her hair was perfect, her makeup was beautiful, and her dress was stunning. Pretty girl.

 

 

I led the couple to the backyard for their flower exchange and pre-prom pictures. It was such a beautiful day and the two of them looked so cute together.

  

 

In addition to Jenn, Popo, me, and Sarah, Margaret’s grandmother Omi was also there, along with Marsha and her two kids. And Daniel’s parents showed up a few minutes into the photo session. The high schoolers had quite the audience for their pictures.

  

But they were very patient while we took picture after picture, although they were a little confused when I asked them to do the stereotypical prom pose. Eli was happy to demonstrate, and that elicited some of my favorite pictures of the day. Too funny.

 

The two crazy kids escaped all of the adults, went out for a nice dinner (at a place nearby that Jenn, Popo, and I actually ended up at later), and had a great night.

The rest of the weekend passed in somewhat of a blur. We had Sunrise biscuits on Sunday morning and then drove with the top down to Durham to have lunch at Bull City Brewery. (So good.) Then we decided to drive to Hillsborough to have another beer at Mystery Brewing.

  

 

A quick rest back at the house and then Margaret and Elisabeth headed off to confirmation rehearsal while Jenn and I accompanied Popo to the Duke University Golf Club. He putted a bit while us girls kicked back in two adirondack chairs overlooking the green and the setting sun and had yet another beer.

A farewell dinner at Brixx (where else!?) on Sunday night and before I knew it I found myself back on a plane very early Monday morning to come home. It was a wonderful little getaway weekend.

I’m so glad I was able to surprise you, Ita. It was my pleasure to be with you on such a big night. You looked gorgeous.

Love you lots!